The importance of public transport. An inventory of impacts on society.

What are the social costs and benefits of public transport? Are these costs and benefits fully incorporated in the standard system for assessing the societal effects of investments: cost-benefit analysis (CBA)?

In this study the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis and the KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis first illustrate how public transport in general contributes to accessibility, quality of life and social participation. However, the average performance data for public transport regarding these policy objectives reveals little about the effects of specific public transport projects. But a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is revealing in this regard. The CPB and KiM studied the results of CBAs performed on public transport projects, while also determining if, in practice, certain effects frequently remain unincorporated, and then providing suggestions for improving the incorporation of effects in future CBAs. This study aims to help ensure that expectations regarding public transport and CBA results are more attuned to one another.